Comparison of Adherence to ARRIVE Guidelines in Animal Research Articles Published in the Years 2009 and 2016 in Pharmacology Journals: An Observational Study

Objective: To evaluate and compare the adherence of the ARRIVE guidelines before and after its introduction by the articles published by two leading journals publishing animal research articles. Materials and Methods: Literature of original research articles of animal studies was obtained from two leading open-access journals. A combined total of 100 articles were selected from these journals from the years 2009 and 2016 (50 articles from each year). Each article was assessed by two investigators independently. The percentage of articles adhering to each item in the ARRIVE guidelines was calculated for both 2009 and 2016. The percentage of overall adherence of the articles to all recommendations was calculated. Completeness of reporting of an article was also assessed. The percentage of overall adherence of the articles to all recommendations was calculated. The adherence to the ARRIVE guidelines in the two journals was statistically compared using Chi-square test. P = 0.05 was considered as a measure of statistical significance. Results: A combined total of 100 articles from the two journals, Indian Journal of Pharmacology and Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, during the years 2009 and 2016 (50 articles from each year) were studied for adherence to ARRIVE and completeness of studies. Despite introduction of the ARRIVE guidelines, 8 of 38 unreported items in articles of 2009 are still unreported in 2016. A statistically insignificant improvement was observed in total adherence to 22 of 38 recommendations of the ARRIVE checklist by >50% of the articles in 2016. A statistically significant improvement was observed in completeness of reporting on 14/38 recommendations, 6 years after the introduction of the ARRIVE guidelines. The study revealed that ~58% of recommendations of the ARRIVE guidelines are being followed by the articles selected from 2016. Conclusion: No significant improvement in quality of reporting of animal research published by two reputed journals was observed even 6 years after the introduction of the ARRIVE guidelines. However, the study revealed improvement in the completeness of reporting of an animal research article. Active endorsement of the ARRIVE guidelines by editors of journals publishing animal research is recommended.